He laughs even as he is pushed backwards. “If I am evil, then what are you?”
“Evil’s worst enemy. You have no idea what you created, and you are scared of that. You don’t know what I’m capable of, I can hear it. You should be scared, because when I’m done, nothing of your precious council will stand. You will be dust, forgotten to the ages while the humans rule, and everything you hate most will still be alive while you are nothing more than a bad dream.”
I’m concentrating on Amos so hard, I don’t hear him until it’s too late. A sharp prick comes at my neck, and I swirl to see the man from the lab backing away with a needle held in his hand.
“As I was saying, Dawn, you are ours, with or without your permission. We need you and we will use you,” Amos sneers behind me, his voice warping halfway through until it’s slower and deeper, disjointed, and wrong.
No, wait, that’s me.
I stumble to the side, my head fuzzy and my eyes going dark as my ears ring. “What have you done to me?” I ask, but it comes out garbled.
I fall to my knees and then to my side, the blackness claiming me as I fight it.
No!
But it’s no use. I’m gone.
I wake up cold and naked.
Why always naked? Can’t the evil bastards just let me have clothes? Not that I have modesty, but my mates will kill anyone who sees me like this, and these fuckers are mine, not theirs. Cracking open my eyes, I blink at the bright light above me, groaning as I turn my head to the side. My whole body aches like I drank way too much and passed out. Whatever that drug was, it was really powerful.
I’m in the lab, strapped to one of the metal tables. When I look down, I see bindings on each ankle, over my middle, and shackling both wrists. It seems they aren’t taking any risks this time.
Lifting my head hurts, so I lay it back down and wait. They must have something planned. They wouldn’t just leave me here if what they said is true—I’m too valuable, as disgusting as that thought is. My mind focuses on what he said. Is that why my mother left? She knew there was something wrong with me? What about Tim…did he sense it too?
These thoughts get me nowhere, so I push them away and focus on my body, feeling the drug slowly ebb away until there’s a crunch of glass. Raising my head, I see Amos come through the door and walk over to me. He looks down at me sadly, as if I disappointed him. Asshole.
“We do not need your permission, you have outlived your usefulness, we can get what we want by force.” He sighs then, almost sadly. “You could have been so powerful, it’s a shame.”
Amos wants to leave me here. And I know it’s to die. I have outlasted my purpose. Well, fuck being smart, fuck being good.
It’s time I let my monster out to play.
He turns away. Growling, I yank on the bindings, thrashing as I try to get to him, but he leaves the room, and about a minute later I hear the bunker door slam. The silence is eerie down here. I look around the room, but I don’t spot the guy who injected me or the woman. It’s empty except me.
I relax my head onto the table and wait, letting my strength return as the drug leaves my system so I’m ready for what’s to come. It takes hours before someone arrives. It’s stupid of them, because the drug is fully out of my system by now and I’m back to full strength and pissed as hell.
It’s not the same blond-haired man from before, it’s four guys. I sniff the air, trying to discern what they are. One smells human, the other smells like magic, and the other two smell...wrong. That’s when I realise those two? They are replicas of the other two.
They made clones?
What the fuck is this place and how has the council gotten away with this shit?
They head my way and I strike. Power flows from me as I scream and launch myself at them, snapping the bindings like they were paper. The lights explode in a shower of sparks, plunging us into darkness. I can see them just fine though, but they don’t see me until it’s too late.